Mongolia

After four ejaculations Kai-Kai was allowed a ten-minute rest. He lay on the metal table, the cold wet towels on his face and on his genitals. Angela expected him to go to sleep but he didn’t. Like an athlete pacing himself, he was consciously taking deep breaths at intervals, sometimes clearing his throat. Angela decided not to bother him with conversation.

As she sat at the intern’s desk her eyes wandered. She saw the unused cameras on their stands in the corner. Drainings were sometimes filmed for Project purposes. The protocol was to use five cameras, one in front of Kai-Kai’s face, one in front of his penis, one behind him, and two on the sides. The cameras had little spotlights on them so that every part of his nudity could be brightly illuminated. Kai-Kai didn’t mind, of course; he was used to being photographed and being on display. She wondered if at any point the Draining Committee had asked his permission for filming, or for any aspect of the drainings, or indeed for permission to do drainings at all. She wondered how awkward it was when excerpts from a draining were shown to the Freshman Biology class, with Kai-Kai sitting there as one of the students. Was he then asked questions about it?

Kai-Kai had been photographed in other contexts, of course. His friends took photos of him at every opportunity, particularly his gay friends Duvon and Jason, who openly lusted after him even though they were perfectly aware that Kai-Kai “didn’t swing that way”. And the Sire was photographed at ceremonial occasions, like when negotiations had concluded and a new country had agreed to be penetrated. She had heard about an uncomfortable incident last winter with the Mongolian reps in Ulaanbaatar. Kai-Kai and Mr. Alkaras had flown out to the Mongolian capital (this was during his annual two-week “vacation”) for a photo op in Chinggis Square. It was well below freezing, with everyone in heavy coats and fur hats, except for the Sire of course, goose-pimpled and purplish all over but not complaining about the biting Siberian wind on his nakedness and the icy patches under his bare feet. Mindful of this, they had planned only a five-minute photo session, but because of a problem with the Soviet-era cameras they were out there for twenty minutes while poor Kai-Kai shivered and endured. When the cameras finally started clicking, the Mongolian reps, standing at his sides, took their gloves off, lifted up his penis with one hand, and then with the other held up a testicle triumphantly in their open palms, as if showing off this year’s apple crop. It was surprising and very undignified but there was nothing Mr. Alkaras could do about it. Kai-Kai smiled gamely as his testicles were grasped for the cameras. Such sacrifices had to be made in the name of diplomacy. Mr. Alkaras apologized to the boy later but, predictably, Kai-Kai brushed it off, saying “It was all right.”